March 11, 2012, Focus Grand Prix, Masters 50+
Chandler AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

My club, Focus Racing, was putting on the Crit, thus the name of the event. I entered the Masters 50+ race, which was the third of the day (out of a dozen events) at 9:15 a.m. and would go for 40 minutes. The weather was predicted to be a bit cool, most likely in the 50s, but it turned out to warm up very quickly; however I still raced in leg warmers and arm warmers. We'd have a bit of a headwind in the finish of the 3/4 mile D shaped course of 3 gentle right turns. All the roads were very wide and the corners were not technical (i.e. very round). The race was held in an undeveloped industrial park, so there were no obstructions, which was great for spectators to see the entire race. My Mom was able to attend and our neighbor Julie also came along to see her first race and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Keith Brodhagen and Mark Fosenburg were present and the only riders I was concerned about in the pack of 23 50+ riders. The 10 60+ riders would be racing with us as a mixed group, but going for different prizes. The first few laps went by at a moderate pace as I learned the course and watched the riders. The inside line seemed to be the best, but it was also easy to get cut off and have to brake. Riders generally swung wide after the turns and blocked any access to the left for trying to move up. The final turn seemed to have a bit of a reverse bank to it and seemed a little precarious to take at a full sprint speed if needed.

Keith was riding in a reasonable position this time round and Mark was firmly latched to his wheel. I'd stay within close proximity to them, but another rider, David Bixby, was intent on keeping Mark's wheel to himself. Since it was still early in the race, I let him have it, and just kept an eye on Keith and Mark. I think there were a couple of primes, but the loudspeaker system at the finish line (and my poor hearing) made it difficult to hear what was going on. Neither Keith or Mark took an interest in them, which was fine by me as I never waste my energy on trying to win them.

A few riders had tried to escape off the front, but the overall pace kept high enough (25 - 26 mph) to ensure that they would not be successful. One of Mark's team-mates made a bid off the front and I was a bit concerned that his club would block the pace and let him ride off to victory. So I tried to keep an eye on his progress, but it started to get tricky as it seemed that a few riders on the course were getting lapped and made it difficult to track the progress ahead.

After about 27 minutes into the race, I found Keith without Mark stuck to his wheel. So I took the spot and figured that the real action would be starting soon, so I tightened up the buckles on my shoes. Sure enough, a quarter lap later, Keith made a jump from the pack and I stuck right with him, with us hitting 34 mph in the process. We flew around the final corner and kept going and soon after the finish line we caught up with another 3 riders; one was Mark, another was David Bixby. After a quick glance back to see that we had a bit of a gap from the pack, I pulled through to keep the pace up and the five of us eventually left the pack behind, doing our fastest lap averaging 28.0 mph. This turned out to be 7 laps to go, so just the spot that I would have predicted to be the optimum time for a good move. We did a couple more laps at about 20 seconds faster than most of the earlier laps, so it was a bit of a taxing pace for me. With 4 and a half laps to go, Keith took a flyer and Mark was right on his wheel. David happened to be on Mark's wheel and I was again on David's; although this arrangement was fine during our team effort to establish the break, it was not wise for me for the impending attacks. While Keith turned up the pace, David was unable to keep on Mark's wheel and left a gap. In exasperation, I jumped off of David's wheel to bridge up to the two leaders because if I didn't, I'd have no chance to go for the win. Unfortunately David latched onto me and got a free ride as I dragged him up to the two leaders, and this effort took a lot out of me, hitting 33.7 mph in the process.

Keith and Mark eased and started yelling at us to do some work at the front. It was evident from my labored breathing that I was currently near my limit, but I took a bit of a stint at the front, only to keep the pace going enough so as not to be caught by the pack that was still far behind. We then did our slowest lap of the race, only averaging 23.2 mph as the bickering ensued. Keith then did another massive effort at the front while Mark dutifully went along in stride. I stupidly had let myself get stuck behind David again and once again he left a gap on Mark and this time I did not have the energy left to close the gap as we neared the one to go bell lap. If I did, I would not have the time to recuperate for the sprint anyway and a win would be pretty unlikely. So I took the assessment that the top two places were not going to be within reach and I should probably ensure that I get the third place spot (only the top 3 get prize money). Thus I stuck behind David and the other rider with us (Reignald Dowdall from the 60+ race) went to the front to keep the pace going, having nothing to lose by having us beat him (he of course won the 60+ race). With about 300 meters to go, I jumped around David who was going very slow and sprinted for the line. Keith had already relinquished the win to Mark and if I had started my sprint really early, I may have been able to catch him off guard and snipe him for second, but he was a superior rider to me that day and deserved the higher placing.

So I was not too displeased with third. Mark and Keith were definitely stronger than the rest of us and used that strength to wear us out such that we could not challenge them in the sprint. My priorities lately have been on family and finances, so the bike fitness has not been brought to it's full potential yet this season and I'm definitely feeling a bit like a second fiddle. Keith would ride two more races later that day, but was not a top contender at the finish.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
9:13 am 15.7 23 37:24 25.2 34.0 163 181


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